Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The honor of announcing that Ken O'Keefe will be joining our London symposium gives me a great sense of pride. For those who do not know, Ken stood tall during the Israeli commando raid on the Freedom Flotilla bringing aid to the prisoners of Gaza, the largest concentration camp in the world. Ken, who is a Marine veteran, captured two Israelis suspected of the murder of Turkish photojournalist during the battle on the Mavi Marmara. As the article we are featuring here explains, he was taken to Israel and beaten, tortured for two days before being released. This was a shameless example of the brutality of Israeli operations against peaceful citizens who are doing what they can to relive the suffering being endured by some 1.5 million Palestinians, who are being deprived of their human rights because of an illegal Israeli blockade.

Ken will be serving as our Master of Ceremonies and will introduce each of the speakers while relating some of his experiences aboard the Mavi Marmara along the way. The event will be held at Friends House opposite Euston Station, one of the premier venues for public meetings, where the discussion of the absence of any justification--historical, religious, moral or political--for wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan will become apparent to everyone who attends. This location appears to be especially appropriate, given the dedication of the Quakers to discouraging war and to preserving a just and peaceful world. While the presentation of the symposium does not imply an endorsement by Friends House, I could not be more delighted that it will be held there, where an audience of 500 is expected to attend.

AN INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

DEBUNKING THE “WAR ON TERROR”:
THREE PERSPECTIVES

The "war on terror" has been justified by 9/11, by religious and moral arguments, and by political persuasion. The speakers will address the crucial arguments for war: Have we been told the truth about 9/11? Do religion and morality support these wars? Does analysis of the political language employed to justify them reveal a hidden agenda? They will demonstrate that the "war on terror" is a complete and unjustifiable fraud.

It is also a pleasure to present an interview with Ken on Kevin Barrett's Tuesday radio program, which is broadcast over "No Lies Radio", which is the theme of his and my research in relation to JFK, 9/11, and other issues of public concern. This interview took place on 29 June 2010, offering a first-hand report on the atrocities committed against the Mavi Marmara.

Hero Of Gaza Flotilla Goes Head To Head With Biased BBC “Israeli Firster”Gordon Duff / 29 June 2010

For those Americans that don’t know, Ken O’Keefe is the United States Marine combat veteran who captured two Israeli’s suspected of the murder of Turkish photojournalist during the battle on the Mavi Marmara. Veterans Today staff writer, O’Keefe was captured, taken to Israel and beaten, tortured for two days before being released. Israeli’s claimed O’Keefe was planning to set up a training school for terrorists inside Gaza while on the ill fated relief mission attacked in international waters by 24 Israeli ships and dozens of American built Blackhawk and Apache helicopters. As many as 6,500 Israelis are believed to have taken part in the operation, deemed a “war crime” by maritime law experts with the British government.

Nine are known to have died, with autopsies showing “execution style ” killings and many more are still missing, fate unknown. Verified witness reports indicate that Israeli soldiers threw four wounded humanitarian workers overboard to their deaths, victims not listed on the official tally. Other victims are unaccounted for, either killed in Israeli custody, dead from lack of medical care for wounds or being held in secret detention facilities. It is believed these names were withheld because the victims had no affiliations with any Islamic organization and one or more may have been American citizens.

Over the weeks since the dramatic Mediterranean confrontation between the Freedom Flotilla and Israeli “sort of” commandos, Ken O’Keefe and I have developed a friendship. Veterans Today is always glad to bring another Marine onboard as a writer as we are overloaded with retired spies, Army people or even worse. I talked extensively with Ken prior to his famous televised interview on BBC. Ken has become representative of a large group of, what is to us younger veterans who are sick of the American policy, now increasingly discredited, of believing anything Israel says and supporting everything they do. Our contention is that Israel has suffered a coup, a military take-over which has left their democratic government as little more than a debating society while extremists are running amok, as Israeli Ambassador Oren calls them, “rogue groups.”

Increasingly, our Israeli based writers, such as former Irgun and IDF fighter, Uri Avnery, have come under physical attack, some inside Israel, some out. Ken O’Keefe was attacked in London this week. Others, many, have received death threats and more, such as Noam Chomsky, have been refused travel restrictions. Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was arrested in Tel Aviv and put in solitary confinement and more have been subjected to cars stolen, laptops seized and homes broken into by “black bag” crews in areas as remote as Sudan and even in the US and Western Europe.

The surprise announcement by Israel through Ambassador Michael Oren that they have lost control of violent groups of right wing Likudists responsible for acts, as Oren admits, including spying on the United States, caught Mid-East observers off balance. Attempts to get information on other operations, such as the Dubai assassination or the London Bombings of 7/7, which could possibly be attributed to this ultra-nationalist cabal referred to by Ambassador Oren have been stonewalled.

This O’Keefe interview, an unsuccessful attempt at an “ambush” by a BBC “Rush Limbaugh clone” fails at its task. Continual interruptions, misstatements and eventually outright propagandizing by the BBC pundit with an embarrassing pro-Israeli agenda isn’t enough to get O’Keefe to walk away. Veterans Today thanks the BBC for allowing Ken O’Keefe an opportunity to show, not only how transparent their bias is but why underestimating United States Marines has been a foolish endeavor since November 10, 1775.